Submissive
by Whisper Gypsy
Summary: I've often wondered how Lily Evans went from being good friends with Severus Snape to being Mrs. James Potter. The single scene we have of their fifth year is a small window which explains the strains on her friendship with Severus, but doesn't give a full reason for such a dramatic switch in only two years. Here is a possible history of those few years. D/s, subspace, subdrop, etc


A/N: Wow, long time no update. I have a very lengthy, personal A/N over on "The Family That the House Built" for those so inclined, but essentially: I'm back! This fic is dedicated to onebigscribble for her support and listening ear. Life tends to get a hold of at times, but we're fighting the good fight! Enjoy the fic and don't forget to review.

Second A/N: I have never participated in a D/S relationship, but I believe in healthy D/s dynamics, not all of which will occur within this fic. I also don't believe persons of this age ought to be so certain of the world they live in. There is more than is dreamed of in their philosophies… Basically, know that kinky things will be happening here, and not all of them will be good, or even the proper way to perform a certain kink. That being said, I am making this relationship a largely nonsexual one, which removes several elements, but by no means all, from possibilities for this fic. But, even with the nonsexual elements, it is not something I would be comfortable with younger eyes reading; If you are under the age of sixteen, please stop reading or don't hold me accountable for your nightmares/sexual fixations/need for therapy. Thank you. One quick point on this AU: EVERYONE is a dom, sub, or switch. Just assume it's a point of fact in this world, ok?

Disclaimer: Broke at the moment; aw the perks of being a student. I don't think JK Rowling has been broke since before The Chamber of Secrets. I could be wrong… Nah.

* * *

A silence filled the dungeon chambers, somehow emphasized by the sparse candlelight which kept the space from darkness. Not that the figure kneeling on the small cushion in the center of the room could see anything anyhow. The blindfold was tied in place, and her wrists were bound behind her, shoulders arching to compensate for the pull on her muscles.

"Very good, Lily. You look beautiful like this. Good girl."

At his words, the naked redhead bobbed forward a bit, tilting her head towards the sound of his voice, but remained kneeling straight, thighs flexing as she held her position.

"You're doing very well. Doing just as I've told you like a good girl. Trust me, love."

Lily Evans, fifth year Gryffindor, prefect and third in her class bowed her head at the praise from her dom. Her fair skin seemed to possess a marmoreal glow in the shallow candlelight, her freckles and areolas contrasting with her skin, drawing the eye of her watcher to each dusky circle.

"Alright, Lily." Her dom moved closer to her, pressing his hand gently to her elbows. "Rise," came the whispered command, and she obeyed without thought, his hands a steadying presence until the blood rushing back through her legs stopped affecting her balance. Her dom lowered his hands and stepped away.

"Now, Lily, I want you to take four steps forward. Count them."

Lily took her first step, and cleared her throat, dry with disuse. "One. Two. Three. Four." Her toes curled into the cold stones, her only form of contact or frame of reference within the large space.

"Good, Lily. You are always so good at listening and doing as I ask. Now, turn to your right and take ten steps. Count them."

Doing as told, "One. Two. Three…", Lily moved across the room, confident that her dom would take care of her. It was so freeing, letting go and placing her trust in another's hands to such a degree. "…Seven. Eight." Her actions were no longer her responsibility, and there was an odd sort of liberation in that form of mental slavery. "Nine." She had often turned the idea over in her head, whether this was a form of slavery or not. If she willingly submitted to him, surrendered her control willingly, and trusted him to care for her and to not cross her hard limits, with only a safeword as the key to her chains, how could it be slavery? "Ten." Especially when she gained such a euphoric, weightless feeling when she finally hit subspace?

"Very good. Turn around and kneel." Immediate obedience sent a thrill up her spine, transmitting a tingling promise of heady pleasure to come. "Wait there for me."

Leather shoes sounded out softly against the stone floor as her dom moved closer to her, his robes rustling as he stopped at his desk, and moved a few object around on the wooden surface. Lily's heart rate increased and she lowered her head, forcing herself to wait for him. When she had walked in that evening, an array of toys had graced his desk, including the blindfold and ropes she currently sported.

Seeing the gag, candle, feather, strips of silk and leather, and the ear muffs had intrigued her as she had stripped at the beginning of their session, and now she wondered which of those things he was bringing over now. She leaned forward a touch, eager to know, ready to know.

"So trusting, aren't you? So ready to take what I give. Hmm. Open your mouth." Lily obeyed, no hesitation marring her actions as the series of back to back compliments and commands ushered her straight into subspace. "Good girl, my good girl." A strip of leather was pressed into her mouth, like a bit. "Bit down on this; yes, like that. Now be still. I've got you, Lily. I've always got you."

Lily relaxed the muscles in her limbs, allowing her skeleton to hold her up, rather than tensing them, subspace already taking over. "Always."

* * *

Lily ran from the courtyard, remembered cries of "I don't need a Mudblood" echoing in her mind and chasing her steps all the way to the library. Her breaths were coming in shallow pants as her throat seemed to constrict tighter and tighter, strangling the sobs as they broke into her mouth.

Her vision was blurred from tears and she began seeing little dark spots as her gasps failed to bring enough oxygen to her brain. Blindly, she stuck her hand out in front of her, ignoring the latent memories this dredged up, stumbling forth until she found the little window nook in the back right-hand corner of the library. Curling up, she dropped her bag of books to the floor, where it landed with a dull thud, and she buried her face into one of the cushions, cheek pressed against the chilled glass of the windowpane.

She rocked herself back and forth until she could breathe again, and sat up dully. She stared out the window, processing nothing which passed before her eyes; she sat and watched the sun move across the sky, feeling nothing but a chasm of emptiness, despairing that l'appel du vide which flooded her soul.

A buzzing sound filled her ears, drowning any other sound. Her mouth felt filled with chalk dust, dry and achy, but with no desire for water.

Her forehead remained pressed to window, chilling slowly to match the temperature of the glass, the only contrast to the fever which rushed her system, flushing her cheeks.

It was a small eternity before she noticed the movements. Someone was holding her hands, stroking them, warming them. She didn't move upon noticing this development, but she did begin to notice her shallow breathing. Her chest was aching, why was that?

She inhaled a bit more sharply and began to hear snippets of a voice murmuring softly. The voice was familiar, but she couldn't place it. "Shh, that's right. I'm here, and I'm not going to leave. You don't have to be alone. I'm here, hush then. All is well now, just breathe. Yes, like that, breathe for me. You're not alone."

The voice was gentle, and she focused on it, turning it into an anchor, chaining herself to it. Ready to be linked up from the depths and back into life. Slowly, other details began trickling in: the wildness of the voices' hair, the red and gold tie around his neck, the care and concern in the wrinkle on his brow, how gentle his eyes were, the shape of his lips as they moved over his words, and finally, his name.

"J-James?"

The boy beside her gave a great exhale. "Oh thank Merlin. Lily. How are you doing? Do you need me to hold you? Do you want me to? What do you need?"

Lily looked at him, trying to focus on his face as a whole, but found that his figure kept shaking. She glanced down and realized it was she who was trembling. Cold and hot shivers ran up and down her spine like polarized sprinters. "Y-yes. H-hold me. P-please?"

James nodded, "Of course. Anything you need." He wrapped his arms around her, and she was comforted by their warmth and strength. "It's alright. I won't leave. I'm here." His jaw came to rest on her shoulder as he held her, rocking her slowly, his fingers tracing patterns up and down her back, tangling gently with hair, tugging on it and releasing.

Lily felt a great weight lifted from her chest and she collapsed against him fully. "James?" she whispered. "Thank you."

"Always, Lily. Always." He held it for several minutes, murmuring softly in her ear, asking nothing more of her.

Eventually, Lily pulled herself to sit up across from him, but kept her hands in his, afraid to lose contact with him, imagining him the anchor which kept her secured in the real world. "Thank you, James. I don't know why I just… went to pieces like that. I just…"

"I do." James' voice was clipped, tight, and Lily flinched at it instinctively. "No, Lily, you've done nothing wrong. In fact, had your dominant behaved better, you would have never had such a deep drop. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Your dominant, however, can make no such claim."

"But he didn't do—"

"He scared you, reprimanded you when you behaved properly, and sent you away from him. I'm not certain he meant the dismissal to be permanent, but you certainly seemed to think so, judging by the severity of your subdrop. And then, as you rapidly fell into subdrop, he ran the other way."

"James. I know you don't like each other, but he has always been so careful with me before. I don't think he meant it, earlier." Lily bit her lip and glanced down at their joined hands, still afraid to remove hers from his. She meant what she said, but the words tasted sour and dishonest on her tongue.

James' jaw clenched tightly. "It was his responsibility to ensure your needs are met, Lily." She glanced up at him sharply. "He failed his submissive, and for a dominant that is unforgivable. Even if he hadn't meant to end your contract with each other, his behavior… " James' jaw popped as he clenched it tightly again, though his hands remained gentle on hers, his fingers stoking her skin softly.

Lily's hands were still trembling, but she quickly spoke up to defend her dom, "We're still young, James. All of us are. We all still make mistakes and hurt others. You and the rest were mocking him when it happened."

"Yes, we were. And that was wrong, but he didn't entrust us with his emotional or physical care. You trusted him, and he failed you. That is why it is unforgivable. You may choose to return to him of course, and you always will be, but… If, after you've recovered a bit and if you were interested… I've always been mad about you, Lily. I would be honored to be your dominant, if you would have me."

Lily held her breath for all of three heartbeats before James noticed. "Breathe, Lily. Hush, no, no. It's alright. You don't have to take me if you don't want. I will not force you to make me your dominant. If you wish to go back to Snape, you may choose so. But you must breathe, Lily. Breathe."

* * *

"Breathe, Lily. Yes." He placed his hand on the small of her back. "Can you feel my hand? Answer me."

"Yes, Sir." Her voice was clear and steady, ready to begin the session.

"Good." He pressed a gentle kiss above her blindfold, letting his tongue swipe down over her forehead before he pulled away. "Now touch your chin to your chest."

Lily put her head down, neck to chest as commanded, and smiled. "Good. Kneel for me." Her knees pressed into the carpet with care. "Now, count to fifty. Out loud." James' hands traced down her limbs as she counted. His hands traced over her pulse at her wrists, butterflying across her skin delicately. He waited for her count to reach thirty before he grabbed his tie from the chair behind him.

"Good, Lily. That's good. I've got you." And for the last few counts, he pulled her arms in front of her and tied her wrists to his bedposts above her head. "Good. Now press your forehead against the post. Just so, good."

James moved his hands up her arms and across her back. "Just relax, love. Breathe out. And in again. Good. Wait for me." James stood and walked away from her. Lily held her breath, teetering on her knees, forehead pressed against the warm wood. She thought of how well she was doing already, James had told her so; how much she trusted him, from the beginning, from the time he helped her out of subdrop.

She could hear him moving around, tidying the room as he left her in her submissive pose, letting her work herself into subspace slowly. Lily found her mind wandering and mentally refocused on the tasks James had commanded her to obey. Each time she rerouted her focus, she felt her body lightening another layer, like sand sluicing off skin in a shower.

Lily let out a deep breath and let go of her control, floating into subspace and submitting completely to James as he returned to her, his fingers tracing the line of her shoulders.

* * *

"Your sub, you say?" the dark, sibilant voice hissed.

Severus Snape bowed his head, death eater mask, lying on the floor. "Yes, my lord. Very obedient to my every command. She left me for Potter when she failed to come to me at the beginning of a subdrop. She still trusts me, however, and would submit again, especially in light of her current dom's demise."

"Look into my eyes, Severus." Severus shivered in fear, familiar with what would come next. No matter how many times your memories were dug through, it still burned as sharply as it had the first time, like acid in your mind.

The Legimens session lasted for several long minutes, the calculating, dead stare of Tom Riddle challenging the dark, secretive gaze of his subordinate. Combing through detailed memories of Lily Evans' submissive behavior, so pliant and willing to obey, Tom eventually backed away. "Very well, Severus. You have served us well, and faithfully. I will offer her life to her, but I will kill the child and his father."

Severus bowed once more. "No arguments from me, my lord."

The answering grin was more macabre than assuring. "If she accepts your contract, you will have your sub again before the night is over, faithful one. You have offered me the prophecy, the location of the boy, and the means to end his life. The boy's mother is the least I can offer you. Now, to Godric's Hollow."

* * *

E/N: So? Not too terrible? If I get enough feedback, I may create an epilogue of sorts I've got dancing around in my head. May go one of two ways with it. Please review!


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